Let it Burn: Legacy of Chaos
by Dreams-of-Red
Summary: ﻿Vincent swears to avenge Lucrecia’s death as he lays helpless after being shot by Hojo. But that﻿ revenge turns to something more, something evil. Vincent has been driven over the edge, to ﻿insanity. Sephiroth joins avalanche to


Let it Burn: Legacy of Chaos  
  
  
The mansion rose above the roofs of the peaceful town, looming like a bad omen. It looked antique though it was newly constructed, the architecture was gothic. Vincent Valentine stood in front of the iron gate, looking up at the structure in the evening light. Behind it, the Nibel Mountains were silhouetted darkly. Vincent took a liking to it, for no apparent reason. He was dressed crisply, in a dark blue Turk's uniform, his black hair combed back, with just a few strands hanging in his dark drown eyes. A fellow turk, who he had not bothered to learn the name of, walked past him into the arched from door of the mansion. Vincent followed, his footsteps seeming to echo down the shadowy hallways.  
  
The first time he saw her was in the library. She had closed out the world, and was absorbed in a thick leather bound book, only occasionally pausing to take down a note or two. Vincent stood at the doorway, just watching her. She was beautiful. Lucrecia looked up, suddenly. "Oh, hello." Vincent was taken by surprise, he had not expected to be noticed, much less addressed. "....Hello." Lucrecia tilted her head and looked at him. "You're a turk, right? What are you doing down here?" Vincent searched for an excuse, he really wasn't assigned to this area, but he snuck down whenever he could, intrigued by the piles of books, on every subject imaginable.   
  
"I..." He was saved an answer by an interruption. A man in a long white lab coat burst into the room. "Lucrecia! I need you in the lab immediately for-" He stopped mid-sentence as he saw Vincent. "This area is restricted. What is your name?" Hojo's eyes narrowed. He didn't like the man, whoever he was. His very presence annoyed him. "Vincent Valentine, Sir." Vincent stood respectfully, causing a mocking glance from Hojo. "Well, Valentine, move out before I contact your superiors." Vincent nodded, and pausing only to look at Lucrecia again, turned and walked out.  
  
It was late, and the stars were brilliant over the expanse of grass on the hill. Lucrecia stood facing Vincent, her eyes sad. He took her in his arms protectively and kissed her. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you, Lucrecia." She looked down, still not meeting his eyes. "We'll just leave together..tonight." Tears formed in her eyes and she blinked them back. "Vincent, I...I can't just.." He silenced her with a light touch of one of his fingers to her lips. "I have something for you." He pulled out a velvet box from one of his pockets, and gave it to her. She looked at it for a long time, then opened it. It was a gold ring, with a beautiful, yet modest diamond set in the middle. She closed the box again, her tears running freely down her face. "No...I can't marry you...I'm so sorry." And she put the box back in his hands, running away from him, down the hill.  
  
Vincent threw open the door to the laboratory, his eyes holding barely restricted fury. "It was you." Hojo looked up, smirking, from the microscope he was studying a specimen through. "Maybe I should have told you we were already married. But you figured it out anyway. Lucrecia is an ambitious girl, she wasn't going to throw away the future of this experiment for a little affair." Vincent glared at him. "You can't just use her like this! She's a human being, and I know you're the only one holding her to this project..She told me she wanted to stop. What you're doing is wrong."   
  
The argument. The flash of silver as Hojo drew a gun. A burning pain tearing through his arm and chest as two bullets were fired. Vincent lay on the floor, his hands in tight fists, and his teeth clenched against the pain. He knew he was dying, as the hot blood trickled out of his body and pooled onto the laboratory floor. "You...I'll kill you..." Hojo laughed. "Tsk, tsk. You'll be dead in a few minutes. But don't worry, you wont have to suffer alone for long. Lucrecia will be joining you." Vincent gasped as the meaning of the statement sank in. "No..." Hojo smirked. "Oh yes. The experiment will succeed, but Lucrecia will not survive childbirth. It's a pity, really. She could have been so useful." Vincent's world slowly faded to black.   
  
Years later, Sephiroth slammed a book down on the library table, causing little swirls of dust to rise from it's unused surface. "Jenova. Mother, I now know the truth. He buried his face in his hands and stood there for a long time. A boy with spiky blonde hair came running into the library and slowed respectfully at the sight of Sephiroth. "Are you all right?" Sephiroth turned cold green eyes on him. "Traitor..." Cloud looked slightly confused. "What're you talking about?" Sephiroth picked up the book from the table, and began to speak. He told the boy what he had learned of the Cetra, and how humans had destroyed their race. Then how thousands of years later, Jenova was found, and used to experiment on humans with. Cloud listened sympathetically.  
"But Sephiroth, it's Shin-ra's fault, not mine..." Sephiroth stood there, the book open in his hands. "You are right."  
  
Hours later, the light having dimmed in the library, and Cloud having gone upstairs to rest, a passage caught Sephiroth's attention. Specimen #13 Vincent Valentine, ex-turk. It continued to give scientific details on the process, but came down to that he had been injected with Jenova cells, and left here, in this very basement.   
  
Sephiroth opened the door to the crypt slowly. Bones and splintered coffins, fallen apart with age, were strewn everywhere. Cobwebs choked the corners, and monsters and rats hid in the shadows of the cavernous room. On the far side of the room, a single purple coffin stood intact. Sephiroth walked to it, and tried to pry the lid open. It was locked, so he stood back, and cut through the lock cleanly with a swipe of Masamune. Then he threw the lid open and stepped back, not knowing what to expect. A man sat up, long wild black hair hanging down his back, a crimson bandanna secured around his forehead and burning red eyes. He looked at Sephiroth with a mixture of hatred and apathy. "Let me sleep..."  
  
The nightmares had materialized the very first night. Before this, Vincent had never even remembered his dreams. But this... It was horrible. Year after year, locked in this confined space, immobile, hearing her screams as she lay bleeding and pale on a white lab table. Seeing the syringes and wires they had hooked up to her, feeling her last shuddering breath throughout his being. Knowing she chose Hojo over him. Knowing he had broken his promise to save her. The agony had slowly turned to hatred in his mind. The lamenting to irresistible need for vengeance. Nights thinking about how to repay all of them for her pain, for his own. For the arm Hojo had taken, for the life he had destroyed. They were all to blame.   
  
Sephiroth looked at Vincent. "My name is Sephiroth.." Recognition at the name sparked in his eyes, and he jumped gracefully out of the coffin, despite the years of unuse his muscles had suffered through. "I know you. You were the experiment that..." Sephiroth listened, intent on his words. "Go on?" Vincent walked over to him, and looked him over. "The ultimate soldier. I hope they all think it was worth it." Sephiroth looked a little angry at being treated so much like an object. "You're Vincent, aren't you?" Vincent glared at him. "Yes. I want nothing to do with you, #12. I'm going to leave now, and I suggest you not try to follow me." He walked out, and Sephiroth let him, still a bit in shock. He was not used to being insulted.  
  
Searing heat awoke Cloud. "What the hell?!" Thick smoke was rising in his bedroom. He coughed, jumping up and making his way downstairs. Flames licked at the old, rotting wood of the mansion. Cloud swore violently, and ran around the worst spots, to emerge from the building. Sephiroth was standing by the gate, watching the town in disbelief. Cloud caught up to him, choking back tears. "What....How could anyone do this?" He left Sephiroth and wandered through the flames. The whole place was eerily silent, no life anywhere beneath the consuming orange flame. Houses, stores, everything had caught the blaze from the mansion. He reached the outskirts, and saw a figure, silhouetted against the fire. His long black hair fell into his face, and his crimson cape whipped in the wind that had sprung up. Cloud stared at him. Then Vincent turned, and walked away, disappearing into the flames. 


End file.
